Tag Archives: Dan Greenall

KBS World Radio – Then and Now

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

Back in the 1980’s, KBS World Radio was known as Radio Korea, and they could be heard quite well at times here in eastern North America. Even with modest receiving equipment, their familiar interval signal, that included regular ID’s in English and Korean, made it fairly easy to spot.

The recording here (circa 1983) was made in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, using a Panasonic RF-3100 portable receiver and a long wire antenna. As a bonus, this station offered a variety of colorful QSL cards to its listeners.

Today, KBS World Radio from Seoul in the Republic of Korea continues to offer programs via shortwave in several languages including English. Transmitter power up to 250 kw is used so they should be audible in most parts of the world. “Sign on” is strikingly similar using the same interval signal with bi-lingual ID’s and opening music.

They also use some of the same frequencies, including 9570 and 15575 kHz, that they have broadcast on for decades. This recording was made using a remote SDR in Hong Kong on August 14, 2025 on 15575 kHz around 1300 hours UTC.

Dan Shares Recordings of the Golden Days of European Shortwave Listening

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post:

Europe on shortwave in the 1970’s

by Dan Greenall

During the golden years of shortwave listening, many European countries had an international shortwave service and broadcast programs to North America (where I live) in English. As a result, these stations were usually among the first that a newcomer to the hobby would find.  However, since there was no internet or e-mail, schedules often had to be found in the various club bulletins and hobby magazines.  QSLs arrived through the postal system and could often take months to arrive.

I soon developed the habit of making a brief recording of each station as additional “proof of reception,” and many of these have survived to this day.  These were typically made by placing the microphone directly in front of the speaker of my receiver.  In recent years, they have been uploaded to the Internet Archive, and links to some of them from the early 1970s can be found here.

[Note that each title links to the Archive.org page where you can find more information and QSLs.]

Radio Moscow

Deutsche Welle, Cologne 

Radio Berlin International 

Belgian Radio

Radio Belgrade

RAI, Rome

ORTF, Paris

IBRA Radio via Radio Trans Europe in Portugal

Radio Sofia Bulgaria

Austrian Radio

Radio Prague

Radio Denmark

Radio Luxembourg

Vatican Radio

Radio Sweden

Trans World Radio Monte Carlo

Radio Kiev

Radio Free Europe

Radio Nordsee International

Mexico on Shortwave – Then and Now

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by Dan Greenall

Back in the early 1970’s, a wide variety of Mexican stations could be heard on shortwave as evidenced by the loggings columns in the SPEEDX club’s monthly bulletins. Examples from this time period can be found here:

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Speedx.htm

As well, the late Dr. Richard E. Wood wrote about what was available to be heard from Mexico in the 1971 Communications Handbook on page 18. You can read this here:

A brief recording of La RH, Radio Tricolor (in Spanish) on 11880 kHz from Mexico City can be found here:

The official international broadcaster, Radio Mexico, was known to issue colorful station pennants like the one pictured. Click here to listen to their ID’s in Spanish (though they did use some English) by a female and male announcer, likely on 21705 kHz (one of the many frequencies they used).

Currently, the only station broadcasting from Mexico on shortwave is Radio Educacion, XEPPM, from Mexico City on 6185 kHz. This recording was made on July 10, 2025 using a remote SDR close to the transmitter to ensure the best overall quality. The QSL attached is one received by my (then) 12 year old son in 1994.

 

HCJB Quito, Ecuador – Then and Now

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes:

In the 1970s, the powerful signal from radio station HCJB, the Voice of the Andes, in Quito, Ecuador, could be heard with station identifications (similar to this one circa 1971) being given between programs.

I am led to believe that they were made by the late Bob Beukema (1928-2001), since his resonant radio voice was often referred to as the “Voice of the Andes”. My listening post at the time was Ancaster, Ontario, Canada.

Today, the station can still be heard broadcasting from Ecuador, albeit with much lower power, perhaps 10 kW at the most, and a much simpler antenna arrangement.

The accompanying recording was made July 30, 2025 on 6050 kHz around 0200 hours UTC using a Kiwi SDR located in Lima, Peru. Even though programming is only in Spanish and indigenous languages, some of that wonderful Andean music can still be found here.

73
Dan Greenall, Ontario, Canada

Click here to download a bit of HCJB ephemera (PDF).

Dan Unearths Radio Memories: A 1990s Treasure Trove of Broadcast Ephemera

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

Hi Thomas

Before the days of the internet and e-mail, handwritten or typed reception reports mailed out to broadcast stations would often net the lucky DXer other goodies, including station brochures, program schedules, frequency guides, station stickers, blank reception report forms, pennants, booklets, and other items in addition to that coveted QSL verification.

The QSLs were stored carefully away in albums or shoe boxes, while much of the other paper ephemera eventually (over the years) made its way into a recycle bin. Recently, while cleaning out some storage boxes in the basement, I came across a number of envelopes containing some of the aforementioned items from the early to mid-1990s. To preserve these newly discovered pieces of radio history, I have scanned much of the material and included it here.

Here’s a sampling:

There are 39 JPEG and 7 PDF files to view: https://archive.org/details/radio-finland-program-guide-1992-3-page-2

73

Dan Greenall VE3HLC, Ontario, Canada

Thank you so much for archiving and sharing these, Dan! Pure radio nostalgia.

Dan takes us on a South Pacific Tour!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes:

In years gone by, many Pacific island nations relied on shortwave radio to air their programs across the vast expanses of ocean. These included countries such as Kiribati, Tahiti, Fiji, Saipan, New Caledonia, the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, and Papua New Guinea. There are recent reports that the latter is seriously looking at a return to shortwave by 2030. https://swling.com/blog/2025/05/papua-new-guinea-plans-shortwave-comeback-by-2030/ Even in Hawaii, the licence of World Harvest Radio KWHR expired in 2009.

While the above nations can no longer be found on shortwave, a handful of other stations are still operating in 2025 and make excellent DX targets for listeners around the world. If you prefer optimal quality reception, choose to listen through a remote SDR closer to the transmitter site.

Click on the various links below to hear samples of audio from some of the remaining broadcasters located in the South Pacific region.

Radio New Zealand 

Radio Vanuatu

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC)

T8WH Hope Radio (Palau)

KSDA Adventist World Radio (Guam)

Trans World Radio (Guam)

Note: this one is scheduled for closure by the end of October 2025

Sit back, relax and enjoy the tour!

73

Dan Greenall, Ontario, Canada

This is wonderful! Thank you for taking us on the tour, Dan! We always appreciate your recordings, QSLs, and insights!

The Voice of Mongolia – Then and Now

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Voice of Mongolia Transmitter Site (Photo by Mark Fahey)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

The Voice of Mongolia from Ulaanbaatar was always tough to hear from my location in southern Ontario, Canada. Relatively quiet conditions and a clear frequency eventually allowed me to make a recording of their interval signal and bilingual identification (presumed Mongolian and English) on November 1, 1998. This was on 12085 kHz at 1230 UTC. I was using a Panasonic RF-3100 portable receiver and a very long wire antenna.

Recording #1 November 1, 1998 1230 UTC 12085 kHz sign on in English (received in Ontario, Canada)

Today, reception of their programs still seem to be challenging, even with the use of remote SDR’s. Their schedule runs from 0900 to 1100 UTC on 12085 kHz, and again from 1300 to 1500 hours on 12015 kHz. Half hour English language segments begin at 0900 and 1430. Their distinctive interlude tune has remained the same through the years.

Recording #2 July 11, 2025 1300 UTC 12015 kHz sign on in Japanese (used Korean SDR)

Recording #3 July 12, 2025 1430 UTC 12015 kHz Chinese ending then sign on in English (used Korean SDR)

73

Dan Greenall, Ontario, Canada

Thank you for sharing these fine recordings, Dan!